Tag Archive for: #rocketchassis

Austin Berry Racing came out of the gate strong in 2022, showing they had been doing their homework, learning from their opportunities in recent years, and applying it all to race consistently at a higher level.

A couple weeks ago they returned to their race shop after a two-race weekend, frustrated and scratching their heads a bit after 11th and 16th place finishes at Williams Grove and Port Royal respectively.  It wasn’t just the finishes really, it was the way the car handled and failed to respond positively to their changes.

It was time to hit the reset button.  To ‘go back to work’, as Berry put it.  Inclement weather provided an off weekend and an opportunity to do so.  The team went over the car with a fine tooth comb, replaced a couple damaged parts, and went back to the setup they started with a month earlier.

The team returned to Port Royal Speedway this past weekend with The Tire Mart / JDS Racing / Berry’s Siding & Seamless Gutter / Locust Hill Custom Butcher Shop / Nathan Berry Beef Farm / A&C Racing Engines / Swift Springs / Kevin Nouse Designs – K1 Race Gear / DMI / Addicted2DirtPR.com / Penske Racing Shocks / Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic / DirtCarLifts / VP Racing Fuels / Rocket Chassis XR1 No.86 to find out what dividends their efforts would pay.  The results were certainly positive.

April 2:  Port Royal Speedway / Port Royal, PA

     (23 cars, Qualifying 1st, Heat 2nd, A-main 5th)

The first Saturday in April found 23 super late model teams signed in to compete on a sunny but seasonably chilly day in Central Pennsylvania.  A random pill draw was used to separate the field into three groups for combined hot lap / time trial sessions.

Austin Berry wasted no time showing they were ready to race at the front of the field again.  He posted the quickest lap in group three with a 19.382, which was also the fastest lap in the entire field.

“I’m very happy to see that the work we did following our subpar performance a couple weeks ago paid off.  That’s rewarding “, Berry said following the solid start to his day.

The top four in each group were inverted to set the heat race lineups, so Berry rolled off 4th in heat number three.  Finishing in the top two was the primary goal because those drivers from each heat would participate in the redraw for one of the top six starting spots in the feature event.  Once again Berry was strong from the drop of the green, surging into 2nd on the opening circuit of his 8-lap heat race.  

On lap three, Matt Cosner slipped by Berry to claim second, but the battle for a redraw spot wasn’t over.  Berry remained poised and worked his way past Cosner and back into second on lap five.  He then set his sights on leader Dylan Yoder.  Berry closed the gap slightly but there wasn’t enough time remaining to mount a challenge for the win.

The redraw could have been friendlier to Berry, but you have to play the hand you are dealt.  He pulled number 6, putting him outside the third row for the 25-lap, $3,000 to win feature event.  By lap two, Austin had claimed the 5th position and turned his focus toward Gary Stuhler, just ahead in 4th.

While Berry was on the move into the top five, Colton Flinner had claimed the lead, with Trever Feathers, Dylan Yoder and Gary Stuhler in pursuit.  An early yellow slowed the event but following that, the event went caution-free the rest of the way.  The top five remained largely in tact, with only a couple position changes occurring late in the race.  Berry was on the heels of Feathers in the closing laps but wasn’t able to get close enough strike, and rode home with a solid top five.

“That was one of the best cars I’ve ever had in the slick.  The car didn’t take off very well, but it continued to build speed throughout the feature.  If we could’ve taken off the way we ended, we would’ve been much better.  We’ve still got work to do.  We’re still a long way off from that 48 “, Berry said, referring to Colton Flinner who has been the class of the field thus far in 2022 at Port Royal Speedway.

Berry is off to a solid start nonetheless.  His top-5 and earlier top-10 have him currently sitting in 4th in Port Royal’s season championship point standings, only five points out of 3rd place.   

Up Next

Current plans for Austin Berry and the team are to return to Port Royal Speedway to compete against the Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series on Sunday, April 10th. 

It was the first Sunday in March and temperatures were climbing into the 70’s in Central PA.  By mid-afternoon Austin Berry had already put on a show from the back of his heat race and climbed out of the car with a big smile on his face.  

Looks like 2022 might be a fun one in the ABR pits.

March 6th:  2022 Season Opener / Port Royal Speedway / Port Royal, PA

     (18 cars, Heat 2nd, A-main 10th)

Despite the beautiful weather and being couped up in their race shops all winter, only 18 super late model teams signed in for opening day at Port Royal Speedway.  It was a quality field but a bit short of the count fans have become accustomed to at the ‘Speed Palace’.  Unfortunately the supply chain issues that are affecting everyday items are affecting the availability of race parts too.  Some teams are still waiting for engine and suspension parts to get their cars race-ready.

Austin Berry Racing (ABR) was coming off a 2021 season where they had found their groove.  They had established a consistent baseline and collected a victory, then went to work in the shop and felt confident they could maintain that level of performance, if not improve on it in 2022.

Two 8-lap heats were lined up by random draw.  While all cars would qualify for the A-main, only the top 4 would get to redraw for one of the top eight starting spots.  As luck would have it, Austin Berry’s day started by drawing a high pill, which placed him at the back of the lineup, outside row 4, for the second heat race.

It didn’t take Berry long to show ABR had come prepared.  When the green flag waved on heat number two, Berry got a great run off the high side of turn four and the outside lane opened up down the straightaway, allowing Berry to rip the top all the way into 3rd place by the time he reached the exit of turn two.  He proceeded to dive under the No.94 of Jason Miller in turn three and claim 2nd.

Berry then set his sights on leader Kyle Hardy and was able to close to within a car length for a couple moments in the closing laps.  Austin flashed under the checkered flag in 2nd, one second behind Hardy.

The reward for his qualifying effort was a spot in the redraw, which garnered Berry the 3rd starting spot in the feature event.  It was evident The Tire Mart / JDS Racing / Berry’s Siding & Seamless Gutter / Locust Hill Custom Butcher Shop / Nathan Berry Beef Farm / A&C Racing Engines / Swift Springs / Addicted2DirtPR.com / Penske Racing Shocks / Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic / VP Racing Fuels / Rocket Chassis XR1 No.86 was capable of running up front.

It would just be up to the team to make the right adjustments to keep up with the ever-changing surface, then the driver would just need to make the right decisions behind the wheel.  Simple, right?

As the field came to the green for the 25-lap main event, there was some incidental contact among the front few rows as they sorted out exactly when to mash the gas.  Fortunately, everyone collected themselves and got rolling down the straightaway.  Things didn’t turn out quite as well at that end of the track for Berry.  His car over-rotated on entry.  He nearly had it saved but contact with another car left Berry facing oncoming traffic.  On the bright side, everyone else avoided him.  He was able to rejoin the field and restart at the rear.

The Mifflin, PA resident composed himself and went back to work.  Racing in traffic is always a bit more challenging, but Berry was able to work his way back to a 10th place finish.  Not what he was aiming for, but a decent recovery.

“I’m obviously disappointed.  We had a great car and didn’t get the finish we should have.  The spin was our own fault.  We made a mistake calculating an adjustment, so the car didn’t handle like I expected it to when I entered turn one.  Nothing we can do but learn from it.  We’ll come back next week, show how good we are, and get a finish that helps us forget this one.  As frustrating as today was, I’m actually really excited about this season because we have a really good car.  We are capable of running up front every week.  We just need to keep putting in the effort”, Berry commented, clearly experiencing a range of emotions.

Up Next

Austin and the team will return to Port Royal Speedway on Saturday, March 12th.  Racing starts at 4pm.